New stuff on personal front:

1.bought a bullet 350.which is amazing.

2.got an admit from mdi.paid the fees too [:D]

3.got to buy a laptop..no clue which one to go for..

CHOOSING A ROYAL ENFIELD


If u r reading this,then in all probabilities u r going through the same dilemma i went through for the last 2 months.i bought a bullet standard 350 a week back,n im proud of the decision i made.while this may make me biased while doing this write up,il try n remain objective while making the comparisons.

i feel that when choosing an enfield, its all about wat the person wants.one person's choice might not be wat the other wants.so the best reviews would be ones that r technical,but they tend to become too confusing and a bit boring.so here is my attempt at making a comparison without going into the technical aspects too much.

i club the royal enfields into 3 categories:
1. the thumpers: standard 350,electra 4s
2. the have-it-all: electra 5s
3. the lookers: machismo,thunderbird

in my opinion,people going for enfields go for bikes in these categories,n someone liking one category would mostly abhor the other.so my comparisons r going to be between bikes in the same category.

category 1: the thumpers- std 350 and electra 4s


on road prices:(delhi)
std 350: Rs. 71000 (rounded)
electra 4s: Rs. 78000(rounded)
these 2 bikes r the bikes that r the truest to the enfield bass thump.if i were to not buy a standard i would have definitely gone in for electra 4s (for me the thump is the most important thing in a bullet)
the differences between these two have to be regarded as being tradition vs modernity.while a std 350 is the traditional bullet look and feel, electra is a more modern version of the bullet.
as far as engine performance goes,the two r almost identical(with the electra giving marginally more mileage). the standard has a heavier crank whereas electra has a lighter crank. a heavier crank is more useful if u want to cruise at lower gears at higher speeds,whereas a lighter crank gives u better pickup.
the biggest difference is the CG point engine of the std against the TCI engine of electra.i cant explain wat this difference is,but as far as i knw a tci is more technically advanced version.but this is wat makes the thump of electra different from std.to me std's thump was better..
also the reliability of an electra is much better than std.if u r going for a std,do remember that it needs a lot more care and maintainence than electra.
one more difference is the handle position n seat.i felt electra has better comfort in this aspect.but this is something u can easily change if u r going for std(as u r anyway saving 7000 bucks approx)
the biggest advantage though is that u can add disc breaks to electra,whereas it is not possible in std.
otherwise not too many differences,both have right side gears,4 gears and cast iron engine.
my verdict is:
go for std 350,if u want the best thump,n the traditional feel.also u get the second world war all black look.
go for electra,if u want hassle free enfield experience,n u r willing to compromise on the thump a bit(just a bit ;) ) .in this case u get a lot of chrome look on ur bike!

category 2: the 'have it alls' -electra 5s

on road price(delhi): 84k (approx)

hmm.a sort of very different cast iron engine bike from RE. a bike with 5 gears,on the left side!
this bike seems to me,is a hash between the thumpers and the lookers.RE tried to keep the category 1 thump,along with the looks of the category 3 bikes.
i feel its ended up nowhere though..it does not exactly have the thump,and it does not look as good as the machismo.though the thump is definitely better than the category 3 bikes,the gears on the left side take away the enfield charm..
it has the electra 4s engine,only difference being the 5 gears.
my take is
comfort:good
pickup:better than all others
thump:would rate it as the third best
looks:decent
reliability:no idea(though i guess it should be at least as good as electra 4s)

category 3: the lookers- machismo and thunderbird

i was never really interested in this category,so my review might be harsher than they deserve..so i think i wont do it,only will mention why i was interested in these.

machismo: i think it is the best looking enfield,when all its optional accesories r added.so much chrome on its body has to make u fall in love with its looks.but my only grouse with this bike is the engine.the avl engine does not have the roar of an enfield..if the thump of std is the roar of a lion,that of machismo is the purr of a kitten.
latest i heard,machismo is off the roads,and RE is planning to launch a 500 cc version with machismo looks and a cast iron engine.that would be some bike!!!

thunderbird: the only RE bike that i like nothing about.its supposed to have great looks,but im sorry,doesnt do anything for me.also the same engine as machismo,which makes this one feel like a bike out of some other stable,definitely not RE.
but hey dont take my word on this,if u look on the roads,TB sells a lot!!

best of luck for whichever u decide!
have a great time riding!!(and ya ride safe.)

3 great comments from 3 stooges

No views bout reservations,just 3 great comments from 3 stooges from the indian government.
1. The day begins.early in the morning the HRD minister Mr. Arjun(durjan/dushasan/duryodhan) Singh comments that IIMs cant go against the government directives regarding holding the admissions back.he goes on to say that the IIMs have only administrative authority (though i thought even admissions was administrative work,im confused now),even that was given to them by the government..right,i think that just makes me feel like it was u who made the IIMs wat they r today..is that wat u were implying Mr. dishonorable minister?

2. Mr. Karunanidhi says that the government must proceed to quash the SC verdict n implement quotas.He says that the government must act before the people of this country 'erupt like a volcano' against the SC verdict (inciting the masses to violence??).He goes on to wonder "how the future of 100 crore ppl can be held at ransom by 2 ppl"? (contempt of court is it?? )
stop wondering Mr chief minister.the answer to ur question is this "the same way the fate of so many ppl is help at ransom by some old pricks like u"

3.Mr. Ram Vilas Paswan(he must be a minister too right?congress has a knack of picking the stooges to fill their posts..) says that the supreme court order is "gairkanooni" (illegal),n lo i was under the impression that supreme court is the supreme authority on law as their name suggests..but i guess supreme as in supreme laundry or something..just a name..

thank u gentlemen for making my day providing for so much entertainment.

ARRR!! ME PIRATE NAME:

Captain Bartholomew Flint

Even though there's no legal rank on a pirate ship, everyone recognizes you're the one in charge. Like the rock flint, you're hard and sharp. But, also like flint, you're easily chipped, and sparky. Arr!

www.piratequiz.com

part of the fidius.org network

i had my gd/pi today at mdi gurgaon..my lone call,i liked the campus!!
heres my profile:
10th 82.6%
12th 84%
BE (E&C) 8.22/10
cat 99.06 (di 98.3,qa 99.2,va 83.3)
gd :two graphs:savings as %age of gdp and domestic investment as %age of gdp for china,japan,us,germany,and asia excluding china and japan..
one problem v had in the gd was that 3 countries graphs looked the same colour and the other 2 looked the same..one guy even pointed this to the panel n he got sort of rebuked by the panel..so make do with wat u get is my suggestion..v had a decent discussion,very nice,no fish market,everybody spoke..i initiated it(though i felt i could have done better at the intro) and made another 5 entries or so..everyone got good airtime.
pi:
v were called in at random,n i was called in last.bohat bore hua baithe baithe....
old prof(O),young prof(Y),me(me)
i enter n wish bothY:take a seat.
Y:so u tried to lead the gd.
me:yes
Y:but u couldnt,y do u think that happened..and also u kept harping about china?
me:sir china was the highest on both savings and investments.so i felt it was necessary to discuss china the most.also on the leading part,i was just trying to structure it,but i think maybe i wasnt doing that properly,so maybe thats y u felt that way.
O:so what r ur hobbies?
me:sir reading and traveling
O:wat do u read?
me:my favourite authors are george orwell,ayn rand,joseph heller.
O:ayn rand eh?what did she stand for?what was her philosophy
me:she stood for objectivism and individualism.she said that human spirit is more important than anything..if u let a man be creative,he will be his productive then..collectivism fails.
O:which books of hers have u read?
me:fountainhead,atlas shrugged,we the living,anthem.
O:name main characters from atlas shrugged.
me:john galt,dagny taggart,hank rearden.
O:who is john galt.
me:told...
O:why did dagny love rearden steel?
me:told..
O:wat else?
me:sir actually i read it 5 yrs back..so dont remember finer details..
O:i read it 30 yrs ago..(all of us laugh..dunno wat was so funny)
Y:so ur other hobby,traveling?
me:yes
Y:where have u travelled..
me:extensively travelled coastal karnataka..made several road trips on bike..
Y:k fine.so ur from enc?what is the major discovery that happened in this field two months ago,that made ppl sit up n take notice?
me:dunno sir.r u talking bout vodafone deal ?
Y:no no business,scientific discovery.
me:dont knw.
O:so u dropped a year?u went to kota?
me:no sir i prepared on my own.
O:have u ever taken coaching?
me:yes sir,on my first attempt at iit and this time for cat.
O:so u think its useful?
me:i think it disciplines u.yes in that sense it is useful.also u dont give competition an edge.
Y:have u heard bout walmart coming to india?
me:yes sir. (me totally happy!!ready for this question!ratt ke aaya tha)
Y:then tell me what is dell coming to india for? (abe ye question kahan se aa gaya?walmart poocho sirji)
me:i dont knw sir.i dint knw dell was coming to india for alliances..
Y:k tell me about wallmart.
me:told
Y:major european retail chain?
me:umm..dont knw any (i think harrod's could be an answer to this?)
Y:indian retail chains ?
me:reliance
Y(interrupts)other than that of course.
me:tata's westside,big bazaar,subhiksha..
O:what is big bazaar's new name?
me:dont knw
O: k tell us bout the indian hardware(electronics) industry.
me:spoke a lot bout that.
Y:tell me where is el dorado?
me:(i had mentioned winning an event called road to el dorado) told
Y:what is bermuda triangle,what is the problem there,n the reason?
me:told.
O:so u have won business quiz?when was tata steel formed?
me:sometime in the 1800's not sure..
O:when was the indian textile industry formed?
me: early 1900's in bombay and calcutta.. (wrong answer obviously,was much earlier and in surat i think)
Y:jute or cotton
me:jute in calcutta and cotton in bombay
O: ok thats it..thanks for coming.
me:thank u (shake hands with both n leave)

all in all a very weird interview...

Preparation for interviews??


I got a GD/PI call from MDI, Gurgaon for their PGPM course. the problem is how do u prepare for an interview? i can still understand preparing for gd..but how the hell do u prepare for an interview? to get the answer to this question i joined a coaching institute. after the whole thing got over i understood just one thing. they just confuse u,thats all. some ppl will tell u one thing,the others will tell u something totally different.
sample this:
question:wat will u do if u do not get selected to this institute?
orientation session 1:
sir i will work for 3 yrs,weigh my options n then think bout wat i need to do.
orientation session 2:
sir i will go home,think bout wat went wrong.i will work for a year,n come back again.

hmmm now i think if im honest they will chuck me out..quite frankly if i was the interviewer,i would chuck myself out.so though the second orientation thing is wat i subscribe with,i decided to give the first one a try at a mock interview.
i got shredded to pieces there..the interviewer told me "that means u r not dedicated towards doing an mba.ur just here because u have the opportunity.u said the earlier the better,then y wait for 3 yrs?"
i think im going to be honest on this one at least..i will go with the second answer..

these mock sessions came with their share of entertainment too..i spoke to an interviewer who told me that ppl came in who were hilarious..the interviewer asked one guy "tell me something bout delhi"..so the guy replies(keep in mind he must be at least 20) "delhi is the capital of india.delhi is having problems of terrorism." that has to make the interviewer go nuts..

conclusion i reached:No matter wat u say,u can be shredded to pieces.the interviewer is like god.
watever u say will be used against u.

SOFTWARE SUCKS.


doesnt it?its a fact.software sucks.the sector is a big bag of suckass jobs.
i have been doing my final sem internship at this software company,n boy do i regret every moment of it!! should have not come to delhi man..i swear.should have stayed in manipal n done this project crap there itself..all the people there are having so much fun..all i can do when i talk to them,is crib crib n crib somemore..
its like this with software.every body reaches office.every pretends they r doing the most important work in the world.as if the world would stop if they took a break.phew.then as the pretence wears off,everybody is at some corner,smoking or drinking coffee,depending on the person..shit people do 14 hrs a day n still come the next day before i get there..that is something i cannot fathom..dont they have a life?worse still, i dont want to be transformed into that!!!
resolution:not going to work in software after my mba.